thesummeriturnedprettytrilogyfandomcom-20200214-history
Isabel "Belly" Conklin
Isabel "Belly" Conklin Isabel "Belly" Conklin is the main narrator and protagonist of The Summer ''Trilogy written by Jenny Han (also known as ''The Summer I Turned Pretty series or The Belly Conklin ''series). She is a young teenage girl who often spends her summers at a residence known as Cousins Beach with her mother, brother and her mother's childhood best friend Susannah Fisher along with her two boys Conrad, the oldest, and the younger one between the two, Jeremiah. Throughout the series, she is in an intense love triangle between brothers Conrad and Jeremiah, trying to determine which boy she is meant to be with. Her ultimate passion throughout the series is shown to be swimming, saying how she can get "lost" in the sport and why she loves it. '''NOTE': This page contains spoilers for the trilogy! Appearance and Personality Belly is described as having dark hair and a face full of freckles and a slim girlish figure she almost always hides. She is also told to tan very easily during her summers and sometimes even gets as dark as coffee beans. Unlike her best friend Taylor, Belly is the type of girl who prefers to cover up her womanly body. She is seen always wearing large T-shirts and clothing to hide her figure and, when going swimming, prefers bathing suits with support bras to hide her rather large chest. It is revealed Belly had developed and grew at a rather fast pace for a girl her age, already having C size breasts by the age of fourteen. Belly also seems somewhat oblivious to her beauty, always attracting the attention of guys throughout the course of the series, resulting in her occasionally being hit on. Despite her personality, she can be very girly when she chooses to be. She is shown to be somewhat immature, but sheds her childish personality and evolves into an adult as the series goes on. The Summer I Turned Pretty In the pilot book of the trilogy, Belly arrives at Cousins for yet another summer with Susannah and her two sons, the eldest of the two, Conrad and the younger one, Jeremiah. Belly has officially blossomed in the start of the novel, at the age to where she is no longer seen as a little girl, but as a teenager. It becomes clear the second Belly steps out of the car to approach the boys, that they finally see her not as Steven's little sister, but as an actual girl now. Belly has always had a crush on Conrad since she was little, but will something bloom with her and Jeremiah? She starts things with a boy named Cam Cameron, who turns out to have always liked her before she ever knew him. But she realizes things won't work out so she breaks things off with him in the end of the novel. It's Not Summer Without You After her relationship with Conrad crashed and burned and Susannah's cancer finally killed her, Belly is left with a first summer in her home town instead of at Cousins. However, when Jeremiah calls Belly telling her Conrad's gone missing, she finds herself at Cousins once again. Can the three finally patch their wounds up and mend things after Susannah's tragic death and form a life without her? And who will Belly end up with this time? Meanwhile, Jeremiah is growing tired of burying his feelings for Belly. He decided to let Conrad have her the first time, but will he be so kind this time? Or will he finally take what he's wanted all along? In the end, Jeremiah makes his feelings known to her, kissing her in his car. Belly finds herself kissing him back and when things start getting heated - Conrad walks in on them with a rather pale struck face, but walks away from the scene. Belly flees after him and Conrad's on the verge of fury when he turns to face her. They argue and Belly in the end runs from the scene, finally realizing that Conrad will never admit to loving her. At a motel when raining gets too heavy to drive home, Conrad tells Jeremiah while Belly is in the shower that he can have Belly and insists to him that he's over her. This results in Belly and Jeremiah getting together in their car ride home together while Conrad calls a friend to pick him up. The tension finally eases and Belly and Jeremiah are left truly believing that Conrad is finally over her and they can all move on in their lives... What they don't know is that Conrad had lied to the both of them is more than still in love with Belly and is nowhere near getting over her. We'll Always Have Summer In the summer finale, two years have passed since the ending of the previous novel and Belly is going well in her ongoing relationship with Jeremiah. Things seem to be going perfect for the two of them - until she discovers Jeremiah cheated on her and slept with another girl on his school break. Belly is angered and horrified when discovering this and spends days literally in bed crying. Jeremiah pleads with Belly for forgiveness insisting his tryst meant nothing to him and that he loves her. In an act to prove his guilt, he proposes to her to which Belly hesitantly accepts. The two soon think their life is going to be perfect after moving past his mistake. But what they don't know is the family isn't going to be as happy about the couple's plans for marriage as they are. Especially Conrad. Meanwhile, Conrad has not gotten over his mistake and has been regretting his decision to let Jeremiah have Belly and is more than still in love with her. After Laurel and Belly have a fall out about her and Jere's engagement, Belly is rendered no choice but to stay at Cousins until her wedding with Jeremiah...where Conrad is also residing. The arrangement slowly surfaces old feelings between the two and Belly is left questioning if she has ever truly gotten over Conrad and if marrying Jeremiah is the right thing to do. Relationships Belly had always been seen by Conrad and Jeremiah as "their best friend's little sister" before the events of the first novel. However, when Belly finally blossoms into a beautiful teenager, they begin to see her as an actual girl, resulting in newfound feelings for her from both boys. This resulting in the intense love triangle the three find themselves in that the story is best known for. Despite receiving sudden attention from other boys, she only develops real feelings for Conrad and Jeremiah and often struggles with her feelings for both boys. ''Conrad Fisher *''See Belly-Conrad Relationship '' He has been Belly's crush since early childhood, a fact well known by everyone. Despite his character being something of a jerk or "asshole" to everyone, due to never expressing his true feelings and keeping it all bottled in, it is suspected that he has developed feelings for Belly in the first novel, ''The Summer I Turned Pretty. This is suspected when he shows several accounts of getting either overly protective or jealous of guys flirting with her throughout the course of the first novel. Due to Belly wanting to explore the party scene as well as her romantic options with boys, this annoys her as she feels he treating her like a little sister and being overly protective of her. However, at the end of the novel, he gets together with her. However, by It's Not Summer Without You, their relationship proves to be short lived when Conrad's unstable emotions following Susannah's illness suddenly ends their relationship on a sour note. In spite of their crash and burned relationship, Conrad still shows several - if not mixed - signs of still harboring feelings for Belly. Despite loving him back, Belly realizes he will never admit to loving her and decides to finally let him go. In the third and final novel, We'll Always Have Summer, Belly and Jeremiah announce their engagement after two years have passed from the previous novel. However, due to her mother kicking her out of the house, Belly stays at Cousins Beach until her wedding day. She soon discovers that Conrad is staying there as well and the housing situation causes old and buried feelings to re-surface. After a series of events, Conrad is unable to deny his love for her any longer and passionately declares his love for Belly, even insisting that she is the only girl he will ever truly love. Despite his heartfelt confession, Belly brutally rejects him - stating he is too late. When Jeremiah finds out about his brother's confession, Conrad him get into and intense fight over their love triangle with Belly. This ultimately results in Jeremiah disowning Conrad as his brother, vowing that they were "done". After his violent confrontation with his brother, Conrad says goodbye to Belly to give themselves time apart. Before leaving, he gives her the infinity necklace he failed to give to her years prior (during the first book of the series) along with heavily implying that he will always love her - declaring that loving her was worth all the trouble. After giving her a kiss on the forehead, he leaves. After this, Conrad and Belly stay apart for about three years (though begin to letter write to each other after the first year). After writing a series of letters to Belly, he begs for her to write him back saying he needed to hear from her desperately, clearly missing her greatly, which she eventually does. He shows up at her college graduation, resulting in their reunion as a couple again. He proposes to her after being in a relationship with her for about little over a year afterward and the epilogue shows that the couple marry with Belly as his wife starting a new life for the newlyweds, marking the end of the series. ''Jeremiah 'Jere' Fisher Jeremiah is Belly's first kiss as well as (by the ending of the series) her former boyfriend and fiance. He started to develop feelings for Belly in the first novel of the series, but repressed them for Conrad's sake. But in the second novel, he refuses to not be happy any longer and abruptly kisses her while in his car with her. The two briefly make out, only to be interrupted by a near furious Conrad. However, Conrad lies that he is over Belly, pushing Jeremiah and Belly to enter into a relationship together. They spend two years together and are happy. However, during a break between the two after a fight, Jeremiah cheats on Belly during his spring break in Cabo by sleeping with the "sister sorority slut". Belly soon discovers his infidelity when overhearing the girl herself bragging about her one night stand with him to friends during a frat party. Belly immediately confronts him about it and, when he admits to it, slaps him and spends days in bed crying. Jeremiah, not wanting to lose her, begs for forgiveness and proposes to her to show his regret. Belly hesitantly accepts his offer, after he vows to never hurt her again. However, it is clear by this point that Jeremiah has changed from Golden Boy to Frat Boy. After their engagement becomes official, he leaves Belly to do most, if not all, the wedding planning and rarely helps her out. He becomes irritable whenever she spends time with Conrad - who begins to help her with the wedding - and uses his soon-to-be marriage towards Belly to spite and hurt him. When Belly reveals to him how Conrad confessed that he still loves her, Jeremiah is enraged and takes off the night before his wedding to her. When he is confronted by Conrad, who attempts to convince him to return to Belly, he punches him in the face before disowning him as a brother. Once back at the Summer house where the wedding is arranged to be held, he demands that Belly give all of herself to him or nothing at all. Belly admits that a small piece of her heart will always love Conrad - genuinely surprising him - but insists that she loves him more. Despite this, Jeremiah states that simply isn't good enough for him, resulting in a permanent break up between the two. While never officially stated how things returned between them, it is revealed in bonus material of the paperback edition of We'll Always Have Summer'' that Jeremiah had been chatting with Belly online during her studies abroad in Spain. Also, in the epilogue of We'll Always Have Summer, at Belly's wedding with Conrad, she sees Jeremiah with a date and blows him a kiss to which he answers with a smile. This, somewhat, implying they are all on good terms again. ''Cam Cameron He is Belly's first boyfriend and summer fling. The two actually attended school together, although Belly never noticed him, where Cam harbored a crush on her and saw her as one of the popular girls. He wanted to make many attempts to talk to her, but could never muster the courage to do it. The two finally meet in ''The Summer I Turned Pretty ''where Cam can be seen checking Belly out at a bonfire party, which Belly notices, causing her to go up and talk to him. Soon, he offers to drive her home, inciting anger in Conrad due to how Belly seemingly just met him. Despite this, the two exchange phone numbers and begin talking over the phone and begin dating. However, Belly begins to find him boring and grows tired of the relationship. She had a main issue with him never showing any romantic affection or physical attraction for her; such as taking her to a Drive-In (a socially known place for hooking up) and not trying to make a move on her and awkwardly asking permission to kiss her. Despite this, it is seen that Cam has genuine feelings for her. Cam soon begins to, as implied, suspect Conrad of having feelings for Belly, explaining that he can tell by the way he looks at her. Despite his suspicions, Cam seems to get along with all of the family and even hanging out with Jeremiah and Conrad. Things with the two being to meet their end when Cam realizes the connection between Belly and Conrad, although is still willing to date her. He asks if she wants to stay in touch after the summer ends, to which Belly silently declines. By the end of the first book, she realizes that while he is a nice guy, he just isn't ''her ''guy. Quotes *“Things couldn't stay the same forever.” '' *“Sometimes it hurts to look at you." *''"The future is unclear. But it’s still mine.” '' *''“Firsts were important. But I was pretty sure lasts were even more important.” '' *''“Happiness is a Slurpee and a hot pink straw.” '' *"Hey, look! That guy in a wheelchair just lapped us!" *"Mom, just because two people are good friends, it doesn't mean there's anything is good on. Please never bring that up again." *"Did you hook up with her? *''“My heart was pounding a million trillion times a minute. I never felt more alive. Anger, sadness, joy. He made me feel it all. No one else had that kind of effect on me. No one.” '' *''“I loved him in a way you can really on do the first time around. It's the kind of love that doesn't know better and doesn't want to - it's dizzy and foolish and fierce.” '' *"You were a real badass, Mom." *"I feel like... like maybe I don't know him like I thought I did. I feel like I can't trust him ever again." *"What do you know about West Virginia? You've never been there." *"I think you really hurt Jeremiah's feelings." *"You and I... you and I were never anything." *"I'm not pregnant!" *"I love it here at night." *"Do you think I'm making a huge mistake?" *"Hey, I was never ''not ''a good driver." *"No! But I wanted to. I was - I was tempted to." *"I'm getting married in a couple of days. I shouldn't be thinking about kissing other boys." *"It doesn't matter. It's too late." *"No! Don't you get it? You will never be what Jere is to me. He's my best friend. He loves me no matter what. He doesn't take it away whenever he feels like it. Nobody has ever treated me the way he does. Nobody. Least of all you." *"If you dare try and Belly Flop me right now, you're going down with me." (final line in series) Trivia *She remains a virgin throughout the entire series, even throughout her two year relationship with Jeremiah. *She hates her nickname "Belly" as she thinks it sounds childish. *Despite being a tomboy, she is shown to be very attractive and attracts the eyes of many boys throughout the series. *Both her and Steven's as well Conrad and Jeremiah's parents are divorced. *She considers her first kiss to be with Jeremiah during a game of Truth or Dare when she was thirteen, this being when he abruptly kissed her when he was dared to kiss a random person in the group. Although because she didn't kiss him back, it can be thought that this doesn't constitute as a real first kiss. *She grew rather fast for a girl her age, developing C size breasts by the time she was 13. It is hinted at that she may have even taped down her breasts due to hating the large size of them, always wearing full complete bathing suits with support bras and large t-shirts to hide the actual size of her chest. *Her passion is swimming and the water as it makes her feel most calm and at peace. She had been on her school's swim team and is known to be a talented swimmer. *Her "specialty" is cocoa and a specific blend of slurpee. *She got her nickname "Belly" from her father, who thought the name "Isabel" was too long of a name. When asked why he did not go with the more common nicknames for Isabel such as "Izzy" or "Belle", she said she thinks it had to do with how Jelly Belly's were her favorite candy. She further reveals that she dislikes the name "Izzy" and wished she was called "Belle" instead. By the third novel, she has started going by "Isabel" following her going into college. *Belly's character received mixed reviews from readers. Some readers disliked her character as they felt that she was childish and immature and found it hard to like her. However, other readers enjoyed the fact that Belly was somewhat immature and made poor choices at times since they felt like they could personally relate to that type of character, especially as a young teenager. Some also found it refreshing that Belly wasn't "perfect" compared to other main characters in novels who never seem to make bad choices. They liked that Belly makes occasional bad choices as they found it to be realistic for a normal teenager. Category:Main Characters Category:Female Characters Category:Siblings Category:Protagonists Category:Narrator Category:Characters Category:"Summer Kids" Category:The Summer I Turned Pretty Category:It's Not Summer Without You Category:We'll Always Have Summer